Citation

Ulbricht J, Doberentz E, Krämer M, Madea B. Rom. J. Leg. Med. 2020; 28(4): 363-366.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Romanian Legal Medicine Society)

DOI

10.4323/rjlm.2020.363

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In cases of different causes of ketoacidosis, vacuole changes in the epithelium of the proximal renal tubules have been observed. Meanwhile it has been proven that subnuclear vacuolization is not only found in alcoholics but also in diabetic coma and fatal hypothermia. In this work, concentrations of the ketone body beta-hydroxybutyrate were determined and a histological examination of the kidneys was performed (HE-, PAS-, Sudan-staining). In a collective of 30 cases with alcohol abuse, fatal hypothermia, diabetes or combinations and 55 control cases, a strong correlation of the measured ketone body concentrations with subnuclear lipid-containing vacuolization in kidneys could be demonstrated. If the cause of death could not be clarified, this finding could be the reason for specific ketone body determinations to clarify the cause of death. © 2020 Romanian Society of Legal Medicine.

Language: en

Keywords

suicide; drowning; Hypothermia; hypothermia; cause of death; metabolomics; alcohol abuse; coma; gas chromatography; Alcohol abuse; Kidney; mass fragmentography; Article; ketoacidosis; Diabetes; Sudan; cell vacuole; 3 hydroxybutyric acid; limit of quantitation; liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; Ketoacidosis; ketone body; Ketone body; subnuclear vacuolization; Sudan staining; Vacuolization